RFPI and Arab funds turned out to be shareholders of Aeroflot

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RFPI) together with funds from Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE bought a stake in Aeroflot for about 10 billion rubles, the general director of the RFPI, Kirill Dmitriev, told Vedomosti on the stand of the fund at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. He did not mention the size of the package, the date of the deal, nor did he say how much the RFPI paid, and how many - partners.

Vedomosti found out that RFPI and partners bought 4.8% of the airline for 9.8 billion rubles. in September last year. This is known to two interlocutors Vedomosti, familiar with the terms of sale of the package of Aeroflot. Both note that in September 2017 Aeroflot sold a quasi-treasury package, but who became the buyer, then it was not disclosed. The RFPI representative declined to comment, Aeroflot did not respond to Vedomosti's request.

According to Dmitriev, RFPI does not plan to sell its stake. "We with our partners believe in the growth of the company," he said. Since last September, Aeroflot shares have fallen in price by 27.5%, according to the data of the Moscow Stock Exchange. Wait for the restoration of the company's capitalization Dmitriev and partners will have a long time, analysts of ACRA and Aton agree. Now is the time to buy shares of Aeroflot, recommends a trader of a large bank.

The market is not in the best condition. Despite the growth in traffic, the financial performance of the airline market deteriorated last year, ACRA analyst Alexander Gushchin states. The main reasons are the unfolding price war and the growth of operating expenses. As a result, ticket prices did not grow at the same rate as the airline's operating expenses, which led to a decrease in profitability.

In the long term, Aeroflot can achieve good results and investments by RFPI and partners in the company can pay off with good returns, says Aton analyst Mikhail Ganelin. According to the expert, now the capitalization of the airline is under pressure due to high prices for fuel, oil, and also because of a weak ruble.

The deterioration in financial performance affected the airline's capitalization, Guschin said. At the same time, following the price of oil, prices for aviation fuel continue to grow, this further reduces the margin of carriers, the expert says.

"We are also open and to increase the share [in Aeroflot]," Dmitriev continued. How much the fund and partners intend to spend, he did not say. They lack a 1.9% stake in Aeroflot (279 million rubles on the Moscow Stock Exchange - Vedomosti) in order to hold its candidate for the board of directors, analyst Ganelin estimated. The council has 11 seats, with an average attendance at the annual meeting of 74%, it is necessary to get approval of at least 6.7% of the shareholders' votes, says Ganelin.

The largest shareholder of Aeroflot is Rosimushchestvo (51.17%). In free float on the stock exchange there is 45.8% of shares.

The consulting company in the field of strategy and valuation of the brand Brand Finance has published the rating of the most expensive brands of airlines in the world. In the first place, as in 2017, - American Airlines. The brand of the American airline for the year has fallen in price - from $ 9.811 billion to $ 9.094 billion this year.